The Post Office

By Rabindranath Tagore

Book Overview

"The Post Office" is a poignant and symbolic play by the Nobel Prize-winning author Rabindranath Tagore. The story centers on Amal, a fragile and imaginative young boy confined to his home by a debilitating illness. Bound by the walls of his room but possessing a spirit that knows no limits, Amal watches the world through his window, engaging with the various people who pass by. His greatest desire is to receive a letter from the King at the newly established post office across the street.

Through this simple yet profound premise, Tagore explores deep philosophical themes of freedom, mortality, and the human soul's longing for the infinite. The play is celebrated for its lyrical beauty and its ability to convey complex spiritual truths through a narrative of childhood innocence. "The Post Office" remains one of the most performed and translated works of Indian literature, offering a timeless meditation on the power of hope and the search for liberation beyond physical constraints. This work showcases Tagore's mastery of drama and his unique ability to find the extraordinary within the ordinary routines of life.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025367847
• ISBN13: 9781025367842
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

After Death, There's Life

This play by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore is one of those pieces of literature that truly deserves to be remembered and admired as it was in London in 1914, when William Butler Yeats remarked that this little play "...is very perfectly constructe and conveys to the right audience an emotion of gentleness and peace." To Western eyes, at first glance, a play about a dying child may see morbid. The reader and theatregoer quickly realize, however, that Amal, the moribund boy, simply wants to experience the world through they eyes of a common dairyman and receive a letter from the king. He appreciates the small things in life and wants to live his life to the fullest, without pity or decadence. The thought of death barely enters his mind. It is, then, without coincidence, that the play was aired over the radio during Europe's darkest hours under Nazi occupation in World War II. The most poignant performance of the play was in July 1942, in the Warsaw Ghetto, when the Polish doctor, educator, writer, and children's rights activist Janusz Korczak had the children in his orphanage stage this play. As with the central character, Amal, the children were better able to accept death as part of life, preparing for certain death that awaited them. Said Korczak, "The play is more than a text - it is a mood, it conveys more than emotions - it is an experience, and the actors are more than actors -they are children." In accepting death one can affirm life.

After Death, There's Life

This play by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore is one of those pieces of literature that truly deserves to be remembered and admired as it was in London in 1914, when William Butler Yeats remarked that this little play "...is very perfectly constructe and conveys to the right audience an emotion of gentleness and peace." To Western eyes, at first glance, a play about a dying child may see morbid. The reader and theatregoer quickly realize, however, that Amal, the moribund boy, simply wants to experience the world through they eyes of a common dairyman and receive a letter from the king. He appreciates the small things in life and wants to live his life to the fullest, without pity or decadence. The thought of death barely enters his mind. It is, then, without coincidence, that the play was aired over the radio during Europe's darkest hours under Nazi occupation in World War II. The most poignant performance of the play was in July 1942, in the Warsaw Ghetto, when the Polish doctor, educator, writer, and children's rights activist Janusz Korczak had the children in his orphanage stage this play. As with the central character, Amal, the children were better able to accept death as part of life, preparing for certain death that awaited them. For in accepting death one can affirm life.

The Post Office

This short play is greatr. It made me think about my own life and what I may or may not be doing. It made me think about what is real or unreal. It's well worth the half hour it takes to read.